Recently in Edwin Vargas Category

Six Democrats have collected enough signatures to appear on the September primary election ballot.

Edwin Vargas, a member of the city's planning and zoning commission, will challenge incumbent Mayor Pedro Segarra. Segarra received his party's endorsement at last month's Democratic nominating convention.

J. Stan McCauley, another mayoral candidate, said he would
not compete in the Democratic primary but would petition to run as an
independent in November.

Mayor Pedro Segarra has put himself in a comfortable position as he gets ready for Thursday's Democratic nominating convention.

His strongest opponent stepped aside three weeks ago in an agreement brokered by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, leaving Segarra a clear path to the party endorsement. And in a city dominated by Democrats, Segarra appears to be the odds-on favorite to win in November, too, barring a primary battle.

"There's overwhelming support for Pedro Segarra to receive
the nomination of the Democratic town committee," said John Kennelly, a
committee member. "The support comes from all corners of the city. I
feel he will be very soundly endorsed."

"I
know he has support in every single district," said Gonzalez, a member
of the town committee. "He's going to get the nomination, no doubt."

Segarra, the former city council president who took over for Mayor Eddie A. Perez last year, is seeking his own term in office. Perez resigned in June after he was convicted of felony corruption charges.

City lawyer Shawn Wooden,
considered the strongest challenger to Segarra, said late last month
that he would drop out of the mayoral race, support Segarra and run for
city council.

HARTFORD -- Mayor Pedro Segarra will almost
certainly garner the Democratic Town Committee's endorsement during its
nominating committee Thursday, committee members said.

Segarra, who took over after former Mayor Eddie Perez resigned last
year, is seeking his own term. Perez left office a week after he was convicted
on felony corruption charges.

"There's overwhelming support for Pedro Segarra to receive the
nomination of the Democratic Town Committee," said John Kennelly, a member of the
committee. "The support comes from all corners of the city. I feel he will be
very soundly endorsed."

Segarra, a Democrat, has been considered the frontrunner in the
race, especially since his strongest opponent -- city lawyer Shawn Wooden --
announced late last month that he would drop out and instead support Segarra.
Wooden said his decision came after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy encouraged him to put
his "differences aside" with Segarra.

"I know he has support in every single district," state Rep.
Minnie Gonzalez, D-Hartford, a member of the town committee, said of Segarra.
"He's going to get the nomination, no doubt."

Mayoral candidates Edwin Vargas and J. Stan McCauley, both
Democrats, said they would wage primaries by collecting signatures if they
don't get the endorsement on Thursday.

"The convention tends to favor the incumbent," said Vargas, a
city commissioner of planning and zoning. "I'm planning on collecting
signatures for both the Democratic primary and the election."

Several members of the town committee said the treasurer race
would be highly contested. Four candidates have joined the pool -- current
treasurer Adam Cloud, city tax collector Marc Nelson, state Rep. Kelvin Roldan,
D-Hartford, and Lawrence Davis, a member of the city's internal audit commission
-- though political insiders said that Cloud and Davis have the most support.

None of the candidates has enough support yet to get the
endorsement, sources said.

The committee also will endorse six candidates for city council.
Candidates with strong support include Kenneth Kennedy and Alexander Aponte,
who both currently serve on the council, as well as Kyle Anderson, an employee
for the state Department of Consumer Protection, Raul DeJesus, who
unsuccessfully ran against Perez for mayor in 2007, and Kathleen Kowalyshyn, a
city attorney, political insiders said. Other candidates with support include
Wooden and Andrea Comer, a former Hartford Board of Education member.

Comer, however, wrote on her Facebook page Monday that she has
withdrawn from the race. She could not immediately be reached for comment
Tuesday.

Sources said that if the candidates with the strongest support
get endorsed, it would change the Democrats' traditional representation of two
Latinos, two African-Americans and two white members on the council. That
racial makeup has been in play for years.

Gonzalez, who is a proponent of the "two-two-two" makeup, said it
should stay that way.

"Why give more power to one community versus another?" she said.
"Everybody has the same representation and I think we should stick with that
and work with that."

But Julio Concepcion, another town committee member, called the
makeup "outdated."

"I understand why it was implemented," he said, "but I think the
city is in a place where it needs the six best candidates regardless of their
race."

The Democratic Town Committee's convention will be held Thursday
at Bulkeley High School, 300 Wethersfield Ave. It will begin at 5:30 p.m.

Saying that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy had urged him to put his "differences aside" with Mayor Pedro Segarra, Shawn Wooden withdrew from the mayor's race Thursday and said he would instead run for city council.

Wooden,
a city lawyer who was considered Segarra's strongest opponent, said he
has a goal of obtaining a "leadership role" on the council. Wooden
wouldn't say what role he had in mind, but sources said he is
considering a run for council president. Under the city charter, the
council president would become mayor should a vacancy occur, which is
how Segarra got the job after the conviction of former Mayor Eddie A. Perez.

Malloy joined Wooden and Segarra at a press conference
Thursday on the steps of city hall for the announcement. The governor
said it made more sense for Wooden and Segarra -- both Democrats -- to work together.

"There is no sense dividing the Democratic Party or taking
the chance of ripping the party apart," Malloy said. The governor said
he expected Segarra to win the election in a city that is overwhelmingly
Democratic.

Malloy's interest in the mayor's race is in stark
contrast to previous relations between the top officials in the city and
state. Perez was often at war with the General Assembly and Republican
Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

Segarra and Wooden both served on Malloy's transition team when he became governor in January.

"I
don't intend to get involved in every race in my new city, but these
are two races I intend to get involved in," Malloy said, referring to
Hartford's city council and mayoral races.

Wooden's departure from
the race less than a month before the party nominating conventions
places Segarra in a strong position, given the Democrats' dominance in
the city. It also took at least one of the other candidates by surprise.

Former Hartford Democratic Town Committee Chairman Sean Arena will host a series of interviews with candidates for mayor. If you live in the city, you can tune into Channel 5 to watch the interviews on the "Capitol City View" show. The schedule is as follows: